How to stop emotional eating

Whether it is a doughnut or candy or chips, you need to figure out what triggers your emotional eating. (Getty Images/iStockphoto/Artfoliophoto) — **Stop using food as a crutch.** Whether you’re happy, sad or stressed, food can act as an emotional comfort blanket. Sometimes that sugar rush from a pint of ice cream seems like the only solution to your troubles. Or maybe the problem lies deeper, and the absence of a loving relationship or disdain for your job causes you to turn to food for support. Whatever your emotional hardships may be, only by acknowledging and examining these struggles will you develop a healthy relationship with food, says Geneen Roth, author of “Women, Food and God.” The following tactics can help you overcome emotional eating. (Getty Images/iStockphoto/Artfoliophoto) *More from U.S. News* High-Protein Breakfast Ideas 6 Healthy Choices at the Gas Station What’s Really in Those Meatless Meats? How to Stop Emotional Eating *originally appeared on* usnews.com
Update 07/19/16: This slideshow was originally published on July 1, 2010. It has been updated. (Getty Images/iStockphoto/Artfoliophoto)

Stressed business man — **Pinpoint your triggers.** Look at those occasions where you eat but don’t feel hungry. Are you snacking because you’re stressed, bored or sad? Also pay attention to how you spend your time and money — and what you value most in the world. People often turn to food to express core beliefs, Roth says. Those who feel the need to be in control often go on extreme diets, only to find themselves bingeing uncontrollably after a period of deprivation. Those who can’t deal with their loneliness may use food to fill the void. “Ask yourself what’s going on in those moments when you turn to food,” Roth says. (Getty Images/iStockphoto/PIKSEL)

**Feel the emotion you’re trying to suppress.** What would happen if you let yourself feel sad? Roth says that on a subconscious level, you might believe you’ll fall apart if you let the sadness in. Instead of reaching for a snack to stop the tears, expand on that emotion, says Karen R. Koenig, a licensed psychotherapist and author of “The Rules of ‘Normal’ Eating.” You may think you can’t handle negative emotions, but give it a try and see. “Allow yourself to feel anxious, disappointed, confused or lonely instead of trying to minimize that emotion with food,” Koenig adds. (Getty Images/iStockphoto/monkeybusinessimages)

**Keep a food journal.** Recording what goes into your body can stop emotional eating before it starts, says Brigitte Zeitlin, a registered dietitian and founder of New York-based BZ Nutrition. Write down what you’re eating, where you’re eating and what time of day you’re eating. “This will help you narrow down where in your day your eating falls off track,” she says. Once you’ve identified your trigger times, you can find ways to distract yourself from eating. Koenig suggests physical activity — moving your body releases emotional tension and can help you avoid snacking. (Getty Images/iStockphoto/lolostock)

**When you’re hungry, eat mindfully.** There are plenty of ways to work mindfulness into your daily eating habits. Start by slowing down and really looking at what’s on your plate. Avoid distractions, such as TV, newspapers, books or anxiety-producing conversations — eating in a calm environment will allow you to focus more attention on what’s going in your body. Eat what your body wants and just enough to feel satisfied, but don’t stuff yourself. “Mindful eating doesn’t mean you can’t indulge,” Zeitlin says. “It just means that you are consciously making the choice to enjoy a piece of dark chocolate versus mindlessly eating a bag of chips when you’re bored.” (Getty Images/iStockphoto/KatarzynaBialasiewicz)

**End dieting once and for all.** “Until I was 30, I was convinced that if only I could become thin, I’d be happy — that all my suffering would be gone,” says Roth, who openly shares her struggles dealing with her own emotional eating issues. She developed anorexia at a young age and weighed 80 pounds before she finally realized the toll dieting took on her body. It was only after she stopped dieting that she reached a healthy weight, which has remained stable for 30 years. “I’ve never met a diet that didn’t have a binge attached to it,” Roth says. (Getty Images/iStockphoto/gpointstudio)

Talk to yourself. Sometimes the best person to talk to is yourself. “We all have internal resources for dealing with emotional hardship, but not everyone knows how to utilize them,” Koenig says. The next time you reach for your go-to comfort food, stop and have a heart-to-heart with yourself. Koenig suggests verbally confronting the emotions that make you uncomfortable and reassuring yourself by saying “I’m fine.” Talking to yourself may seem strange at first, but by engaging with your emotions, you can develop your emotional capacity to a point where food isn’t necessary for comfort. (Thinkstock)

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